how the light gets in

by Andrea Smithberger
how the light gets in
  • November 1: Honoring
  • Day 2: Signaling
  • Day 3: Revealing
  • DAY 4: Reminding
  • Day 5: Reflecting
  • Day 6: Changing
  • Day 7: Surrounding
  • Day 8: Healing
  • Day 9: Filtering
  • Day 10: Spreading
  • Day 11: Unveiling
  • Day 12: Distinguishing
  • Day 13: Challenging
  • Day 14: Nourishing
  • Day 15: Unassuming
  • Day 16: Leading
  • Day 17: Delighting
  • Day 18: Reaching
  • Day 19: Shining
  • Day 20: Reviving
  • Day 21: Growing
  • Day 22: Comforting
  • Day 23: Holding Space
  • Day 24: Beckoning
  • Day 25: Stunning
  • Day 26: Igniting
  • Day 28: Introducing
  • November 2020
  • Tag: Bubbles

    • Day 17: Delighting

      Posted at 7:46 am by How the Light Gets In, on November 17, 2020

      Day 17; the light is coming in all sorts of ways bringing joy and happiness.

      DELIGHTING

      The light touches simple spheres of soap & water making them magical.

      Adding light to an ordinary night turns it into a summertime tradition of dance and attitude (clearly).

      These pictures make me smile from the inside out. Aside from the bubbles and glow sticks, these pictures also have kids in them.

      The littles are doing life right. You know?

      The American Academy of Pediatrics says: “Play allows children to use their creativity while developing their imagination, dexterity, and physical, cognitive, and emotional strength. Play is important to healthy brain development. It is through play that children at a very early age engage and interact in the world around them.”

      Play is not just for kids. We need it to so we can interact with the world around us with physical and emotional strength in love with creativity for the good of ourselves and everyone around us. When was the last time you found yourself delighting in something? What was it?

      TODAY: Go for a walk, play tennis, basketball, kick a soccer ball, play frisbee, cornhole, climb a hill and run down it, play a round of Go Fish, lay on some grass and stretch, blow some bubbles and get up and catch them, paint, take pictures of where you are; GO UNTIL YOU FIND YOURSELF DELIGHTING IN THE DAY YOU’VE BEEN GIVEN.

      Today, let’s go…

      Posted in November 2020, Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged American Academy of Pediatrics, basketball, Bubbles, Delighting, How the Light Gets In, paint, photography, Play, soccer, stretch
    • Being Still

      Posted at 1:43 pm by How the Light Gets In, on August 10, 2017

      Be Still… I feel like we’ve all heard that call in an old hymn or seen it on a trendy chalkboard. But the invitation to BE STILL might be one of the oldest invites ever. Psalm 46:10 says, “Be Still and know that I am God.”
      But today, right now, how do I “be still?” Do I literally sit and then how do I know? How can I be still when life is moving and changing and anxiety is growing and fear is battling hard? Well, I know now. You blow bubbles. You. Blow. Bubbles.
      Joseph and I were sitting with his therapist unloading all the ugly when she offered us each a bottle of bubbles. Joseph immediately challenged himself to blow the biggest bubble ever. And me? Well, I’m pretty sure I splattered the poor woman with a soapy mess. The hot air coming out of me was not so chill. She encouraged us to shut our eyes and listen for the sounds the bubbles make as they float and pop. She told us to open our eyes and watch the sizes, all the different colors and how they move. She told us to feel the cool pop when the bubbles hit our arms. She told us to inhale the slight, faint smell. Yes, she told us to even let a bubble hit our tongues. People, it took maybe 5 minutes to engage and breathe and take it in. Joseph and I walked into that session all wound up and on the verge of some kinda tantrum. But we walked out of there smiling and calm.
      “Taste and See the Goodness of the Lord” (Psalm 34:4) The lesson comes before and goes beyond bubbles, clearly. Maybe to Be Still means to take the time to experience your experiences with your God given senses.
      I love this story in Luke 10:10… Jesus and his friends had stopped at Martha’s house. “She had a sister called, Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, ‘Lord, don’t you care that my sister (my kids, my husband, my co-worker) has left me to do the work all by myself? Tell her to help me!’
      *PAUSE HERE* because the hustle and the struggle is THOUSANDS of years old. Great, right? Ok, continue…
      “Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ‘you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed –indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better and it will not be taken away from her.” Martha is getting it done and she is busy doing it. All the while, Jesus is at her house. Jesus is sitting in her living room and she comes in to try and throw Mary under the bus for not running around like she is! Exclamation point because I am such a Martha! But Jesus is saying, “Hey, come sit a bit. Let’s hang out.”
      I’m trying to Be Still. Learning how to be a Mary. It takes time and effort to experience the experience but it is worth it.
      And for me, right now, to Be Still means when Lily grabs my hand to jump in the waves, I let my hand feel how small and soft her little hand is in mine. It means when I have a piece of Grauls cake, I let that buttercream melt in my mouth so slowly I can taste all the heavenly (because it is from heaven) ingredients one by one. It means waking up early so I can remember quiet again. And I use that quiet to sit and listen for the words that can’t be taken away from me.
      Jesus meets me right there in my living room at 5:50 every morning and he’s holding Lily’s other hand with me and he’s crying tears of YES watching Joseph jump and dive and laugh in the ocean for HOURS.
      It takes time and effort to experience the experience but it is worth it.

      Because then you know.

      Posted in AUGUST 2017 | 1 Comment | Tagged Be Still, Bubbles, Grauls cake, How the Light Gets In, Luke 10:10, Martha, Psalm 46:10

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